Ina Steiner EcommerceBytes Blog
News and insight focusing on ecommerce.
by Ina Steiner, Editor of EcommerceBytes.com
Thu Aug 1 2019 13:46:40

eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

By: Ina Steiner

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eBay filed a second lawsuit related to Amazon's recruitment ("poaching") of eBay sellers, accusing three Amazon managers of engaging in a "pattern of racketeering activity - a conspiracy designed to infiltrate and exploit eBay's internal member email system using fraud and false pretenses when recruiting eBay sellers," according to eBay.

In the complaint filed Wednesday, first reported by the New York Times, eBay wrote, "Amazon reps often described to targeted eBay sellers how they were prospecting as a team led by the Defendants and other Amazon managers. Examples of such communications abound: "I am part of what you would call a hunter/recruiter team which actively searches for sellers we believe can do well on the platform,..."

eBay accused the Amazon employees of violating the RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act). The New York Times said eBay's lawyer told it a whistleblower helped eBay by providing it with information.

The Times wrote, "EBay cites multiple fake accounts that gained access to its site via an internet address registered to Amazon in Seattle. It includes messages from 2016 to 2018 recruiting sellers that offered a range of items, including shoes, refurbished computers and tools." The article includes a link to the lawsuit.

eBay's sensitivity to Amazon's recruitment activity may come as a surprise to merchants given how long multi-channel selling has been a fact of life in ecommerce. But in an interview published yesterday, eBay CEO Devin Wenig demonstrated a lack of appreciation for sellers' desire to diversify selling channels.

When Mark Steier of Wortfilter.de asked Wenig what he would want from German sellers if he had 3 wishes, he reportedly laughed and replied, "Number 1: Stop selling on Amazon! Number 2: Stop selling at Amazon! Number 3: Stop selling at Amazon!"

eBay's CEO has been unable to stop a decline in marketplace sales, but trying to dissuade sellers from turning to Amazon (and trying to get Amazon to stop recruiting sellers) may not be the best tactic.



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Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: thievesBay This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 14:05:59 2019

Poor eBay. The little puppy continues trying to nip at the heels of the big dog. This will go nowhere just like their last attempt. It seems as if everything eBay does these days is some sort of propaganda move. Everything they do and say amounts to nothing. An endless stream of eBay trying to get themselves in the news. Hey Wenig, maybe if you weren't such a JOKE then you wouldn't be losing sellers to other platforms so badly. But eBay as always has to point the finger elsewhere. It's nothing they ever did. eBay poaches themselves of sellers and buyers by their own actions. They just do not get it. eBay reeking of desperation. Again.

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: RL15 This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 14:28:40 2019

the delusional ceo with more of his nonsense.

fleecebay should be very careful.

the government can very easily find that fleecebay has been
a RICO business for a very long time.

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: eBay Shill Buster This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 14:48:21 2019

This lawsuit is nothing more than a smokesreen to cover the massive fraud Devin Wenig is engaged in at this very moment, the defunding of millions of sellers, right at this very moment eBay is in the middle generating GTC fees on listings that never ended.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Getting-charged-for-Buy-it-Now-R
einsertion-before-the-listings/m-p/30086995#M1462261

Wenig is an out of control delusional white collar criminal who should have been fired years ago.

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: pace306 This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 15:56:43 2019

Calling Uncle Griff! eBay once again calls out the buttonmen to try and assault Amazon.

eBay is used to pushing people around - and Amazon wont be pushed around.

"When Mark Steier of Wortfilter.de asked Wenig what he would want from German sellers if he had 3 wishes, he reportedly laughed and replied, "Number 1: Stop selling on Amazon! Number 2: Stop selling at Amazon! Number 3: Stop selling at Amazon!" ---- well if eBay would stop going to war with its sellers - ther wouldnt be an exodus to Amazon!

(To quote a famous animated cartoon) "From days of long ago, from uncharted regions of the universe, comes a legend; the legend of Wenig ...." Dope, alot of eBay sellers CAME from Amazon. Amazons rules or category brand blocking, FORCED sellers to migrate to eBay .... "now he wants them back?"

"eBay's CEO has been unable to stop a decline in marketplace sales, (and) is
trying to dissuade sellers from turning to Amazon" - THAT is the entire issue, period.

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

This user has validated their user name. by: NoMoreEbay

Thu Aug 1 16:10:52 2019

LOL. ebay is accusing them of racketeering. How about ebay stacking the deck with their 50% penalty fee. That's the definition of racketeering.

I wish Bezos would put ebay in his radar and squash them like the cockroaches they are.


 

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: Whatever This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 16:56:47 2019

Poaching? Geez - I've been waiting for that call for years - my specific category is closed and I don't think Amazon cares how much I've sold over the years ($20,000,000+) or how good my feedback is (100%) for 20 years+) or if their current seller use me for drop shipping because my service is so great.  Come on Amazon - call me - I can leave eBay in the rear view mirror

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

This user has validated their user name. by: The End

Thu Aug 1 17:18:57 2019

Where have we seen this before ?
Every time Ebay talks about some other venue,
they're describing themselves.
File a R.I.C.O. on Ebay while it's ripe.....

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

This user has validated their user name. by: iheartjacksparrow

Thu Aug 1 17:56:23 2019

Isn't eBay the definition of a Corrupt Organization?

If a person is good at what he/she does, no matter what the business, a headhunter will probably find them and offer them a better job. Maybe Devin should consider that if he didn't treat his sellers like garbage (or "noise") and didn't fee them to death, then he wouldn't have to be worried about another marketplace luring them away. Anyone doing great business on eBay wouldn't even consider moving to Amazon. But when an eBay seller gets hit with fees, penalties, false SNADs, no help from CSRs, secret selling limits, never-ending glitches, and on and on that everyone is constantly complaining about here, what does Devin expect? There's a reason eBay's growth each quarter is single digits while Amazon's is double digits; sellers on Amazon are making sales and making money. Devin needs to stop drinking the booze at the eBay Bar, work to correct the problems he's facing, and forget about Amazon.

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: thievesBay This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 18:11:40 2019

There's literally nothing eBay says or does anymore that isn't about trying to scam for money. All of it wrapped up in eBay's web of lies and false promises. This truly is operated like a criminal organization. Every little aspect of this company leads to money for them at the expense of everyone else. Because all they do is take money from people, they've been allowed to pillage and steal without any restrictions. It's allowed because it's all about Wall Street and the almighty dollar, and what fake BS numbers eBay can feed them. eBay needs investigation and needs restrictions put upon them for their abhorrent behavior.

Here's a list of who eBay scams for money:

Sellers
Buyers
Other Companies (frivelous lawsuits, stealing of ideas)
Wall Street (last 3 to pump the stock, so executives get more $ per sold share)
Shareholders
The Media

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: Snapped This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 18:36:27 2019

''Wenig demonstrated a lack of appreciation for sellers' desire to diversify selling channels.''

Imagine that.  

Got news for ya Dev - you not only do NOT own your seller's inventory to manipulate as you please, you also do NOT 'own' the sellers who still have hope eBay will germinate for them.

Especially those who you and your policies and your broke-stick website have so disrespected and frustrated and cheated and sucked dry.  

You'll also need to explain how a competitor's outreach to those INDEPENDENT entities differs from your latst pathetc attempts to replace your irrevokably lost seller foundation by means of corporate sponsorship to a millenial focused boob tube sitcom.  Espcially those who may already have found a more suitable venue for THEIR 'inventory' - one that doesn't require incessant payment for LACK of services advertised.

And not for nuthin' - the RICO act?  Seriously?  Have you LOOKED in a mirror lately?  

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: notfunanymore This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 19:01:44 2019

“eBay's CEO has been unable to stop a decline in marketplace sales, but trying to dissuade sellers from turning to Amazon (and trying to get Amazon to stop recruiting sellers) may not be the best tactic.”

Desperate measures for a desperate company. They’re irrelevant now and will be irrelevant forever  

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: Frank Abagnale This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 19:49:43 2019

Get ready for it folks, coming soon, the Ebay Rico Lawsuit Sale!  

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: maxmad This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 19:54:35 2019

desperate times, call for desperate measures,

At the end of the day it won't make one bit of difference, ebay is loosing market share, that's never going to change, no mater what ebay does, just too many competitors now, combined with really bad business decisions, one of the worst by far is going to war with your customers, (what company in their right mind does that, too funny)

Suing Amazon for "allegedly" stealing customers is just a waste of time, and quite amateurish, but this is their MO blame the loss, the issues on everyone else, but themselves,

Total Loosers

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: P.Dorf This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 19:56:02 2019

U-N-R-E-A-L. D-E-S-P-E-R-A-T-E.  H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-S-Y. Pure D-E-F-L-E-C-T-I-O-N.

Hope ebay's extremely soiled linen gets washed in public, as people wonder the real reasons of this lawsuit, considering how they brag of all the extra users to their 'platform' each quarter.

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: beuler This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 20:36:36 2019

Right now eBay is driving away its sellers, just peek at the ebay boards in the last few months...doesn't add up. CEO is delusional, spinning an opposite narrative...guy makes my skin crawl.

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: pace306 This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 20:50:30 2019

eBays dumb lawyers only know luring cheating and stealing but obviously not the law.

Good little witch Wendy should brush up on her law knowledge - there’s no RICO here at all

Sellers are not employees of eBay, they don’t have any connection to eBay - as eBay said in the Vitton case - eBay has nothing to do with listing items, the terms or the items themselves.

Sellers pay eBay to list items, period. That’s NOT Rico

Besides you can sell on more then one platform and most do - so there’s no case.

Even if amazon paid a seller to come to Amazon - do what - that’s still not Rico.

Way too much cheap schnapps at Walkers when this idea came about

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: Silver Ice King This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 21:23:45 2019

Ebay filing a RICO lawsuit against Amazon because they are taking customers that Ebay has been treating like garbage for years is so laughable its not even funny.  Wenig continues to say that Ebay is going to continue taking additional monies from their existing Sellers despite lower sales and he does not expect that to cause Seller attrition? I have never seen a more pathetic CEO in all my years on this earth.

I wonder what excuse he will come up with for the mass seller exodus he is going to see when Ebay forces all of its Sellers into Mangled Payments so that ebay can steal even more of their money.  The lack of Sellers volunteering to join the program now with all the so called perks (90 days without having to pay the additional $0.30 per additional item number on an invoice) should be a sign for him to realize that Sellers are getting fed up with all of his antics and lack of ability to run any company, let alone an Ecommerce site.

What I think will be extremely funny is if Ebay actually loses revenue in the first quarter they force all Sellers into their Mangled Payments program.  The exodus of Sellers and their Store Cancellations is going to be a very costly lesson for Ebay to learn that they went finally broke the camels back.  When overall Ecommerce is growing in double digits and yet Ebay cannot show any growth except in areas that they extort additional fees from Sellers through their penalty FVF's and not showing Sellers listings 24/7/365 when they pay for them. Ebay is getting to the point that unless they agree to pay anywhere from an additional 4.5% - 11% for Promoted Listings a Sellers chance of surviving on Ebay is truly threatened.  All of these games that Ebay plays are going to eventually come back and bite them in the rear end, both cheeks.

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: ebayout This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 21:26:59 2019

How do you poach something from a person/corp. that doesn't OWN that something?

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: beuler This user has validated their user name.

Thu Aug 1 21:34:15 2019

Promoted program will be the end of ebay, and the Algo flips where your sales dive 80% with no explanation..... sellers can't run fast enough to Amazon.

Perminate Link for eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?   eBay RICO Lawsuit Meant to Curb Seller Exodus to Amazon?

by: justchangecarriers This user has validated their user name.

Fri Aug 2 01:49:51 2019

How about instead of trying to sue Amazon, you just make ebay a better place for sellers to stay and stop trying every way possible to nickel and dime everything, forcing sellers to act like corporations to exist, and fix your own site to function correctly. Havent had 1 month in the last 2-3 years where I didnt have a problem with your site glitching or something messing up. Actually put money in your site, quit rigging search, and loosen up on the tight seller regulations. Maybe then you wouldnt have to be concerned people are leaving.

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